Iceland is hoping to tackle fears of festive shortages by guaranteeing customers a turkey “in time for Christmas”.
The first 150,000 people who sign up for its “Turkey Insurance” will get one delivered between 11 and 17 December.
Iceland is “so confident” that it has pledged to pay for any orders that arrive late.
Shoppers will need to put their name down by next Monday to be eligible for the scheme.
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According to ONS data, 18 per cent of retailers between 5 and 8 November were “low” on frozen turkey or had none at all.
Customers will have the option of three birds:
- Iceland Perfect Turkey (£17.00, serves eight to 10),
- Bernard Matthews Golden Norfolk Basted Turkey Crown Medium (£16.00, serves six to 10)
- Bernard Matthews Golden Norfolk Basted Whole Turkey with Giblets Large (£17.00, serves eight to 10)
“This year we’ve been preparing for a bigger Christmas, so we have a strong stock of frozen turkeys,” frozen trading director Andrew Staniland said.
“With noise of Christmas food shortages we wanted to offer added reassurance to our customers.”
People have been spooked by reports of the supply chain splintering under the weight of festive demand, which has fuelled an early shopping surge.
Iceland’s frozen turkey sales soared by over 400 per cent in September compared to last year.
In the same month, Aldi was selling around 1500 turkey crowns a day, four times higher than normal.
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